The ongoing development of data networks often involves enabling greater connectivity by expanding the area covered by a network and/or improving the robustness of accessible coverage within a particular area. Wireless access points (APs) simplify the deployment of network infrastructure equipment and enable rapid installation and/or expansion of a network within a coverage area. As a result, various data networks, from local area networks (LANs) to wide area networks (WANs), now often include a number of wireless APs. Wireless APs also facilitate client device mobility by providing relatively seamless access to a network throughout a coverage area.
In order to satisfy demand, wireless APs include increasingly complicated and power hungry hardware in order to support wireless connectivity. For example, wireless APs typically include more than one radio frequency (RF) radio in order to both provide sufficient coverage and accommodate various networking protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11ac, IEEE 802.15, BLUETOOTH, ZigBee, and the like).
The growing complexity of wireless access points often results in greater power consumption and thus greater heat dissipation by the constituent electronics. Additionally, there is typically a preference for wireless access points that are relatively small and that have a discreet form factor. Greater heat dissipation, when combined with the small form factor, further exacerbates the possibility of damaging components within a wireless AP and degrading the performance of the wireless AP.
In accordance with common practice various features shown in the drawings may not be drawn to scale, as the dimensions of various features may be arbitrarily expanded or reduced for clarity. Moreover, the drawings may not depict all of the aspects and/or variants of a given system, method or apparatus admitted by the specification. Finally, like reference numerals are used to denote like features throughout the figures.